I'm sure they will continue the visual design of the Prime trilogy.
I doubt we'll see many discernibly Bandai-Namco features in the game. They will follow a strict design philosophy that is based on original games.

Bamco's work on the Souls games was limited primarily to marketing and distribution, though. From Software produced and developed them. Even if this rumor is correct, there would probably not be staff overlap in any roles.

(It is a little like saying that since Nintendo published Return of Samus, you hope MercurySteam's next game is tonally similar to Mario.)

The only part that was weird for me, and still is, is that I don't barrel roll with the shoulder buttons. And it's a bit cluncky in chickrn mode. But I do love the dual screens and gyro.
Actually, when I first played it I was a bit wibbky eobbly from about 7-8 beers and it took mere seconds to get used to.

But in seriousness, if this is true, I don't see why people would be panicking. Nintendo isn't going to let another Other M happen. I would assume they will be supervising it and maybe some Retro members are helping out as well.

Can't believe this article had negative points when I came here. First off, Nintendo have earned at least the benefit of the doubt. Samus Returns was well-received, and it was made under a similar arrangement. The developers at least deserve the opportunity to show us what they have done before people start writing them off. Did anyone read the article? Many former LucasArts devs from Star Wars 1313 are on the team! People seemed to like Smash 4 & Pokken Tournament which Namco Bandai assisted on. And this isn't even confirmed!

I mean it's a normal reaction. Even back when Retro made the original Prime people where hesitant, like with Zelda or Star Wars several fans are quite sensitive in regards to this franchise and let their expectations get the better from them.

I mean it's not like Metroid have to be this perfect, divine piece of entertainment. I just feel like people just want it to be like Super Metroid forever. Instead of letting the franchise evolve, make mistakes or even all be damned, and change the tone or pace. Arkham Asylum, Dead Space, RE put Metroid in a bit of a spot in the console space since in several aspects they've evolved certain mechanics, by making more organic worlds, better shooting or visceral horror experiences. I just don't get why people will like it to be kept the same each time there's a new entry and punish ever so little change, like adding new mechanics and elements to a remake like Samus Returns, instead just wanting it to be like AM2R (when AM2R already exists).

Ah yes, Eurogamer, the same publication that was assured Stars was a reality. The same rag that had sources saying Mother 3 was inbound "soon" back when Wii U was popping. Eurogamer, who stood firmly by their report that touted Zelda would miss Switch's launch.

Very reliable. Maybe this time they'll latch onto something real and gain back some pity credibility.

Also the same site that successfully reported details on the Switch's design in an era of hundreds of fakes, along with pointing out how Stars became a tech demo and there's no way they'd release Mother 3 on Wii U so late.

The only questionable thing they reported that's close to bogus is the GCN VC rumor but they still stand by it even today so who knows. They are at least more trustworthy than Marcus Sellars

Interesting, but not really informative enough to draw any conclusions about how the game will turn out. Bamco Studios has a ton of different teams of varying quality.

The devs who make Tekken stuff are different from the devs who make Taiko no Tasujin are different from the devs who make Tales stuff are different from the ones who make Ace Combat stuff are different from the ones cranking out all the licensed stuff.

Rumors circulate that it has people from the Star Wars 1313 game. Other than that, I haven't seen anything else commented regarding this studio.

Still, since not many japanese developers make FPSs I do wonder how much the feel of the game will change. It might feel slower like Federation Force or it might feel quicker like a more traditional FPS.

Still Bandai Namco have improved in faces. So there's that. Though their style is more manga/anime than the more realistic approach western studios tend to take.

"Still, since not many japanese developers make FPSs I do wonder how much the feel of the game will change."

Despite being made in the US, the Prime games did not really play all that much like Western FPSes regardless.

There was a good article or maybe video I saw some time back that went into really nitty-gritty detail about this (unfortunately I cannot find it at the moment), but some of the major points off the top of my head:

-Western FPSes place a lot of emphasis on the accuracy of where the player is aiming, rewarding precision (e.g. headshots doing more damage). Prime by virtue of its lock-on largely de-emphasizes that, since most of the shots fired are guaranteed to hit their target.

-(Modern) Western enemies frequently use hitscan weapons, which cannot be avoided in a meaningful sense outside of having something block line of sight. (This necessitates the copious use of cover and cover mechanics.) Prime enemies use visible projectile attacks, which can be seen and dodged on the part of the player.

-Western FPSes utilize much higher enemy counts (with each enemy being dispatched relatively quickly), whereas Samus rarely ever fights more than three or four standard Space Pirates at once, each of whom can take a lot of punishment.

-Western FPS thus revolve a lot around controlling the space of a given room, utilizing cover, flanking, and chokepoints to manage the enemy presence in order to avoid becoming overwhelmed -- whereas in Prime, things thus become more about watching enemy behavior, navigating through the maze of their attacks and watching for moments of vulnerability.

-This differences wind up having massive implications for the other areas of the game design. Level design in one serves firefights, whereas the level design in the other can serve things like platforming or puzzles or story-telling. Boss fights in one generally stink because they have to operate by rules the standard gameplay does not, whereas bossfights in the other are one of their most praised aspects. Combat in one is generally constant and paramount, whereas combat in the other is mostly a lower-priority.

"Still Bandai Namco have improved in faces."

Yeeeeah... I would perfectly fine if MP4 had no human faces in it whatsoever. >.>

Despite being made in the US, the Prime games did not really play all that much like Western FPSes regardless.

That's true. But knowing they were formerly people from Iguana Entertainment (the N64 Turok games). It makes sense how Prime is continuing that line of game design, environments, KEYS. Still regardless, I think the western sensibility benefitted Metroid feel more mature. Like Tanabe said, Retro put more detail than he was expecting into the environments.

Yeeeeah... I would perfectly fine if MP4 had no human faces in it whatsoever. >.>

"But knowing they were formerly people from Iguana Entertainment (the N64 Turok games). It makes sense how Prime is continuing that line of game design, environments, KEYS."

Well, sort of. The Prime games do not really play all that much like Turok either. For starter's, Turok's core combat ultimately lent itself toward a popular multiplayer experience, and I think we can agree that trying something similar did not work out so hot for the Retro-developed Prime games.

"Like Tanabe said, Retro put more detail than he was expecting into the environments."

Japanese developers can make detailed environments, too. From Software's games are the obvious go-to example these days, but you have games like RE4, Silent Hill 3, Shadow of the Colossus, or MGS3 -- all from the same generation as Prime.

"But how could we be able to tell the tension between Samus and Sylux. "

^ Besides the Donkey Konga games everything else I've really enjoyed from them while handling Nintendo IP. Assault IMO is the best Star Fox game after 64 and 100x better than Zero...the Mario Baseball series is better than Tennis and Strikers IMO (though I really enjoy both of these). Smash speaks for itself, and Pokken while not the best fighter out there is still kinda fun. So let them handle Prime 4.

Assault IMO is the best Star Fox game after 64 and 100x better than Zero..

The story is better. But explosions feel weak, shooting and moving feels slow, and while I respect variety in the missions, it did lose it's appeal fast. Destroy X number of these.

I will not defend the control from Zero, but I do believe it's better paced and aside from Zoness, levels don't overstay their welcome. Even if the Asteroid ones are cheap.

The Mario Baseball series is better than Tennis and Strikers IMO. To be honest I don't see it mentioned as much as the latter. I know it has K.Rool but aside from that, I think the only things I heard from it, are team names.

All in all, I'm open to Namco making Metroid Prime, but I'll have to expect a different feel for the game, since they have their own pace. Though I can't think they'll make it as slow or slower than Federation Force.

Story better, soundtrack in assault is better, controls are better, it has really great multiplayer, and it actually advanced the world and mythos unlike Star Fox Zero instead of retreading 64 AGAIN like Zero. If I wanted to play Star Fox AGAIN (remember 64 is a remake of the SNES original) I'd just play 64 or 64 3D. Zero is so bad IMO.

Also not everything has to be fast paced. What's wrong with a slower paced experience. It's people who think like you is why we have the shitty new Mario Party's with everyone in a car. Because it has to be fast paced EVERYONE move at the same time! Instead of a slower paced strategic fun game of Mario Party. Also Mario Baseball series isn't that slow paced especially Sluggers. Let's be honest Baseball isn't exactly a fast paced sport in real life either.

Ok. soundtrack is better (although Return to Corneria needs to become a recurrent song for this series), controls were traditional more understandable, didn't had the chance to play the multiplayer and mythos continues from Adventures into Command.

My issue is Layman's terms is that when you've played a lot the 64 one as I've do. Assault feels like going from 150CC to 50CC in Mario Kart. It works but isn't as exciting. Shooting doesn't have the same feedback since enemies poof instead of exploding, and while unrealistic, defeating bosses in Zero and 64 feels great because of the over the top explosions. Also, not a fan of the modelling of the characters. Pepper looks like it's dying, and everyone is more stiff than in Dinosaur Planet. I know they're puppets but it's uncanny in Assault.

Golf is even slower, but it's easier to understand than all the things you have to manage in baseball. It's like with Pokken compared to Smash. The former is harder to understand given the gameplay shift from 3D to 2D, and from what I've read it paces badly because of that, the announcer and the cinematic attacks.

I'll agree with you there Zero had WAYYY better character designs than Assault. But if I'm being honest the character designs and original VA were the only two things I found enjoyment in Zero. Well the Star Wolf battles weren't bad....but literally everything else...meh!

The roadmaster was fun to control. Peppy's level was funny. Aquarosa may be the hardest boss in the series (haven't played all in the original). Return to Corneria is a good song for the final level. Level progression at least in concept is solid, with having progression throughout several areas in the same level. And if I'm bit controversial, I think gyro aiming improves shooting, BUT it might be better if one could toggle between the two.

We'll see. I think the 360 aiming demands the stick though. It'll be just 8 directions with just the d-pad and will inevitably be less precise. Although I do see why they didn't brought the speed booster, since even without it. My circle pad broke. The thing with Metroid is that it just seems like there's never enough buttons for the stuff Samus can do.

Not necessarily. They could easily map Free Aim such that pressing right on D-pad makes the laser sight move clockwise while left makes it move counter-clockwise. Quasi tank-controls.

Alternatively, they could map the sight to a reticule that would float around Samus and have it work a bit like in Wild Guns. (This approach would have allowed them to have integrated the background elements into the action. )

Neither would be quite as fast as the circle-pad or the stick, but -- much like dual analog vs. mouse aiming -- they would still be perfectly functional.

How did that Metroidvania from Epic games worked? I mean didn't that one also had you shooting into the background? Though the Wild Guns approach seems fitting for the gyroscope, but I could see it being demanding on the long run. After playing revelations I did like the gyroscope work when holding a button since it between it readjusts to the center.

Like basically everything Epic has ever produced, it was dual stick controls. Left stick to move character, right stick to aim. There were some other configurations iirc, but that was the default.

Because aiming was a pure laser sight rather than a cursor, it kind of had issues switching between aiming at background elements vs. foreground elements.

(As in many other respects, Sin and Punishment 2 is of course the gold standard of this sort of thing. Check out the 1:00 to 3:10 segment here for the way the cursor interpolates whether the player is aiming at an object in the foreground or the background and automatically adjusts accordingly. The aiming scheme at work is completely functional on a standard controller as well, though obviously much less efficient than the Wii Remote pointer controls.)

"Though the Wild Guns approach seems fitting for the gyroscope"

Using the gyroscope with that sort of approach would be pretty quick and also allow the benefit of decoupling Free Aim from the whole not-being-able-to-move thing. (Although after two Sakamoto games in a row where key mechanics required Samus to root herself in place, maybe he just likes doing that for some reason.)

Although after two Sakamoto games in a row where key mechanics required Samus to root herself in place, maybe he just likes doing that for some reason.

Yeah, but in Samus Returns is more warranted, even with standing still, one does strain the 3DS enough. Also in interviews Sakamoto said most of the new ideas in Samus Returns where proposed by Mercury Steam. The teleporters, the counter (from Mirror of Fate), the Diggernaut, the action cinematics. It does fit with statements they've made that there hasn't been a dedicated team for Metroid since it does sound less rigid than in Zelda.
http://www.cgmagonline.com/2017/07/03/sakamoto-talks-metroid-samus-returns/